


Great Expectations

by dizzystars



Category: Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, One Shot, Pre-Canon, a lil..... ironhide is sweet so ill say theres some fluff, angst but like... only when you think about what happens later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22870042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzystars/pseuds/dizzystars
Summary: Sentinel trains Wasp.
Relationships: Ironhide/Wasp, implied ironhide/wasp
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Great Expectations

Wasp was not the first of his frame type that Sentinel had trained and he doubted that Wasp would be the last. Learning to take on opponents larger than you was standard for any bot’s training, but cadets of Wasp’s dimensions had to learn that much quicker than others since nearly _everyone_ was larger than them.

Sentinel would give credit where credit was due: Wasp was a naturally born soldier. He was able to take down Ironhide, Longarm, and Bulkhead with ease. Even though they were bigger than him, they were also inexperienced. Sentinel was most definitely _not_ inexperienced. 

“Get up,” he ordered. “I’m not going to go easy on you.”

“Yeah, I think I understood that the _first_ time you knocked me down,” Wasp grumbled, finally managing to pull himself up onto his knees. He had a few scrapes and the tiniest of dents. Nothing more than cosmetic damage, so Sentinel wasn’t worried, but Ironhide, who stood on the sidelines with Longarm, clearly was. Sentinel ignored him. His cadets needed to learn how to fight on their own; they wouldn’t always have the aid of each other.

Too caught up in his thoughts, Wasp’s attack took Sentinel off guard. Still, he was able to quickly lunge to the side knock Wasp off his balance, nearly sending him to hurdling back to the ground. Fortunately, Wasp steadied himself and whirled back around to face Sentinel.

_Better, but still not good enough,_ Sentinel thought.

He charged Wasp, equipped with his lance and shield. Wasp shot at him with his stingers, but Sentinel easily deflected it, his own shots nearly hitting Wasp. He could hear Wasp swear angrily under his breath as he just barely managed to dodge Sentinel’s attack. He was frustrated-- understandably-- but that didn’t give him an excuse to be sloppy. He needed to tunnel his anger into the battle and fight harder and better, but he also needed to learn that on his own. Just telling him what to do didn’t have the same effect.

Sentinel spun to the side, hitting Wasp with the edge of his shield. Wasp was still recovering from the blow when Sentinel used his lance to knock Wasp off his pedes, making him hit the ground with a loud _unf_. 

Sentinel spotted Ironhide try to step forward to rush to Wasp’s side, but Longarm grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, murmuring words of comfort to him.

“Get _up_ ,” he sternly said, hovering above Wasp. “Just because I knock you down doesn’t mean you suddenly have an excuse to take a stasis nap!”

He saw Wasp’s servos clench into fists. Sentinel waited for a moment, but Wasp didn’t do anything else. He huffed, disappointed.

“What are you going to do if your opponent gets the better of you in a real fight?” Sentinel challenged. He bent down, lingering right above the cadet. “Are you just going to lie there and accept defeat? Decepticons won’t wait around till you’re ready to fight again. Do you know what they do when they see a weak, prone sparkling like you? They’ll _kill_ you-- they’ll step on you and _crush_ you like the pathetic bug you are--”

Wasp punched him, square in the jaw. Sentinel barely had any time to register what had happened before Wasp was kicking him in the gut, launching Sentinel a few strides away from him. When Sentinel finally regained his composure, Wasp was on his pedes and charging him. Sentinel clambered up to his own pedes, lance and shield in servo, and managed to block Wasp’s first blow. Sentinel went to strike him with his lance, but Wasp acted faster, lunging to his left to shoot Sentinel in the side with his stinger. As Sentinel stumbled back, Wasp took advantage of his unsteadiness and swung out a kick to his knees, completely knocking over Sentinel. He landed on his back, hard. Sentinel was still catching his breath as Wasp hovered over him, placing one of his pedes on Sentinel’s chest. 

“Was that better?” Wasp huffed.

Sentinel couldn’t help but smirk. “You’re getting there.”

Wasp let out an embarrassing sound when he was suddenly tackled off Sentinel. Sentinel sat up and was unsurprised to see that it had been Ironhide who had tackled him… well, more so hugging him, aggressively. Wasp fought him off viciously, but Ironhide’s embrace was stronger.

“Bot, that was _so good_ _!”_ Ironhide exclaimed. “You’re amazing!”

“Get off me!” Wasp shouted, though there was a smile creeping into his face.

Wasp finally managed to escape Ironhide’s grasp. Longarm sauntered over to give his own congratulations, but Wasp just shrugged it off.

“You two, head back to your rooms,” Sentinel ordered. “I need to have a word with Wasp.”

Longarm and Ironhide exchanged worried glances but did as told. Wasp waited till they were gone to finally meet Sentinel’s gaze.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked. “I’ll go again if you want me to. I’ll go all night. Whatever you want.”

“You did fine,” Sentinel reassured him. “You’re still a little rough around the edges, but for a bot with your level of experience, you did well.”

Wasp’s optics widened. His gaze nervously darted to the floor. “Thank you, sir.”

“We’ll try again tomorrow,” Sentinel said. He hesitated for a moment before crossing his arms. “You know, you’ve really impressed me, Wasp, and I can’t say that about a lot of my cadets. You have potential. I hope you use it well.”

Wasp straightened his posture and met Sentinel’s optics once more. “I’ll make you proud, sir. I promise.”

And Sentinel, even though he so rarely held any amount of pride in his cadets, believed him. Wasp would be the one who made him proud.

**Author's Note:**

> at some point i became a sentinel sympathizer and i dont know when or why that happened  
> as with pretty much all "background" tfa characters, i have very specific, angsty headcanons when it comes to sentinel that i tried to funnel here though i hate this one-shot A Lot so. ill probably make a tumblr post later on abt my thoughts n feelings kjgfjkf  
> keep up with me on tumblr for more robot shenanigans! https://drygabe.tumblr.com/


End file.
